“Requesting
the University of Hawai’i to study the feasibility of permitting certain
immigrant students who have not yet attained legal permanent resident status to
attend the University of Hawai’i at the resident tuition rate.”

HR 87 requests the University of Hawai’i (UH) to study the
feasibility of permitting certain aliens, other than non-immigrant aliens as
defined by Title 8, United States Code, Section 1101, Paragraph 15, subsection
(a) to enroll at UH at the resident tuition rate. Temporary visitors,
ambassadors, members of the press, foreign students, religious workers and
others will continue to be required to pay non-resident tuition fees consistent
with their status as non-residents. The resolution further identifies two
provisos which limit the types of students who would be eligible to pay resident
tuition fees:

(1)The student has obtained a
diploma from a Hawai’i high school following three years of enrollment, or
obtained a general education diploma in Hawai’i; and

(2) The student files an affidavit
with UH stating that an application to legalize the student’s immigration status
has been filed or will be filed when eligible to do so.

As noted in the testimony presented by the University of Hawai’i
on HR 87, California and Texas passed legislation allowing certain immigrant
students to pay resident tuition rates. Like Hawai’i, these states have large
immigrant groups that contribute to the strength of their communities. The
University agrees with the resolution’s findings that (1) “the State of Hawai’i
has a strong interest in seeing that all its residents have equal access to
education;” and (2) many of these children who were raised in Hawai’i and
graduated from Hawai’i high schools may be eligible for admission to UH and
would attend UH except for the high cost of non-resident tuition they are
required to pay because of not having yet achieved legal permanent resident
status; have strong roots in Hawai’i and their communities, and when armed with
advanced degrees will contribute to Hawai’i`s productivity, create new
businesses, and stimulate economic growth.” If more of these students were
able to enroll at the University, the numbers of under-represented ethnic
minorities would increase, one of the goals of the University’s strategic plan.
The majority of these foreign born students would be of Filipino, Hispanic and
Pacific Island ancestry, groups who have been identified by the University as
under-represented.

Na Loio, an immigrant rights and public interest legal center in
Honolulu stated in its testimony on HB 1960 (similar to HR 87) that they
estimate 100 undocumented students may be eligible. It is likely that the
majority of these students, like other under-represented ethnic minorities in
the state, would attend the Community Colleges and fewer would attend the
four-year campuses. Although it is difficult to estimate the number of
undocumented students who would enroll at UH campuses at the resident rate,
dollar estimates are provided for planning purposes and for this report. The
following estimate is based on 100 students attending the various campuses:

Campus

Revenue

Differential

10 Manoa students

$33,120

$64,800

5 Hilo students

$8,640

$28,080

5 West O`ahu students

$10,560

$25,680

80 Community College students

$86, 400

$378,240

Total revenue from resident tuition fees: $138, 720

Total value of non-resident differential waived: $ 496,800

Total non-resident tuition revenue currently received from these
students: $0

Undocumented students are expected to be from low-income
families and communities and would likely not enroll if they are charged the
higher non-resident tuition fee, i.e. UH would receive $0 non-resident tuition
revenue. Thus, although the value of the non-resident differential can be
computed, it is not useful to interpret this amount as strictly “forgone
revenue”. It is likely that the University of Hawai`i would increase its
student enrollment of underrepresented ethnic groups and increase its revenue if
these undocumented students were allowed to pay resident rates, (i.e. increase
from 100 students and obtain $138,720 tuition revenue). The University and the
State have strong policy statements on equal access to affordable education to
persons living in Hawai`i. Our initial estimate is that the financial impact
of allowing 100 (or even 200) undocumented students to enroll at resident
tuition rate would not be large and may actually increase tuition revenue.
Similar to other groups that are given the non-resident tuition differential,
the University will have to determine appropriate documentation of eligibility
and inform applicants of the appropriate registration procedures. Our initial
assessment is that it is feasible to allow these undocumented students who meet
certain requirements to pay resident tuition rates.

In l995 and l996 the Legislature deleted various groups eligible
for the non-resident tuition differential and gave the Board of Regents
authority over these and related matters. In l997, the Board of Regents
approved various tuition waivers and an implementation plan to continue to allow
the following to pay resident rates: (1) US military personnel and their
dependents; (2) employees of the University and their dependents; (3) East-West
Center students; (4) students from Asian and Pacific Island jurisdictions
without post secondary institutions offering baccalaureate degrees; (5) Native
Hawaiians; and (6) a maximum of 600 outstanding students from Asia and the
Pacific attending Manoa and Hilo; and (7) Institutional agreements approved by
the President or the Board.

The University will be undertaking a review of these
non-resident tuition differential programs and other related tuition programs
(e.g. the Western University Exchange rate 150% of resident tuition fee). This
review will include proposals for various categories of students, including
undocumented students who meet certain criteria as identified in HR 87. We will
continue to monitor the experiences of campuses in California and Texas and also
review federal laws that may impact this proposal.